Trying to make sense of things. Art, Religion, Books, Politics, And So Forth.

Monday, February 20, 2006

Comments

I've decided to enable pop-up comments here.

Comments are a subsection of a blog, so it's a pain in the ass to have to select an option to see the original post to which one is responding, particularly if the site doesn't get many comments to begin with.

Also, what madman designed the Blogger non-pop-up comment thread template? That shit is *just*ugly.*

_______________No part of this statement should be intended to convey a belief that I will, do, or have had commenters.

It's pronounced Nah-vou. Its size was sort of the problem: when the Mormons drew up the city charter with the state, the land was swampy and unpromising. The state didn't expect that the Mormons were going to be able to make much of it, or it would probably have never given the city the kind of autonomy that it did. (I've never looked into the actual terms of the charter; all this history is Mormon lore.)

But then the Mormons dredged the land and brought in everyone they'd settled in Missouri, plus whatever converts they were making. Joseph Smith began to proclaim polygamy and issue rather more *interesting* doctrine. He also began to throw his weight around, backed by the power of the broad city charter. At one point he was even talking about running for US president. It seems that the state of Illinois was, um, nonplussed by the growth of Nauvoo. The local non-Mormons certainly were: that's where Joseph Smith was lynched.

About the Banner of Heaven: I really should read it, but I haven't been able to bring myself to. Everything I've read about it, even the more positive reviews, makes it sound hysterical and offensive. I should read it for myself, though.